The extraction of various substances, such as raw liquid extract, from a solid hardwood or hardwood pulp is a common and necessary process when making paper or other cellulose-based materials. Hardwood naturally contains substances useful for processing into bio-fuel and other organic products. However, while hardwood is regularly processed for making paper or other cellulose-based materials, it has never been efficiently processed into bio-fuel products with commercial success. Acetone, butanol, and ethanol, as an example, can be processed from hardwood extracts. However, to date, the processes developed have been too costly to pursue commercially. One of the process difficulties contributing to the lack of commercial success is the difficulty in separating lignin from hardwood extract in a commercially viable manner.
Thus, an unaddressed need exists in the industry to provide a system and method for conditioning raw wood extract to create products of interest such as sugars suitable for fermentation and organic acids.